Interrogating the Nexus between Party Politics and Party Institutionalization in Nigeria

Abstract

This article critically examines the nature of party politics in Nigeria since the inception of the Fourth Republic. It contends that party politics in Nigeria's Fourth Republic is characterised by dysfunctional evolution of political parties, lack of unity and focus, electoral fraud, lack of internal party democracy, intergovernmental disharmony, political violence, ideological deficit, gross indiscipline and elite antagonism. The article is methodologically conceptual. Relevant secondary data comprising of journal articles, textbooks, workshop papers, and national dailies were consulted. The article discovered that party politics in Nigeria's Fourth Republic is highly defective and volatile, thus forestalling party institutionalization and, by extension, democratic stability. The article concludes with recommendations on how Nigeria's party politics could be redefined to facilitate party institutionalization and improve the quality of democratic  governance